Meet Marjan!

I was born and raised in Iran, surrounded by art, curiosity, and strong women who taught me to dream big, think independently, and pay attention to the world around me. Long before I knew what UX was, I was fascinated by how people experience things, what feels intuitive, where friction appears, and how the smallest details can completely change an experience.

After earning my bachelor’s degree in Design Management in Tehran, I began my career in the travel industry, creating personalized journeys around people’s needs, budgets, and expectations. I planned experiences from beginning to end, worked directly with travelers, and contributed to digital and marketing experiences along the way. Looking back, I was already practicing many of the things that would later draw me to product design: understanding people, anticipating needs, organizing complexity, and turning it all into a thoughtful journey.

Then I made one of the biggest decisions of my life: I moved to the United States on my own.

Starting over in a new country taught me to adapt quickly, navigate unfamiliar systems, and become comfortable with uncertainty. It also made me more aware of how much good design matters. When you’re trying to find your way through something unfamiliar, clarity isn’t just nice to have, it can completely shape the experience.

My work at Macy’s added another dimension to that perspective. Collaborating around merchandising and the in-store experience taught me to think about visual hierarchy, customer behavior, and how people move through physical spaces. When COVID gave me an unexpected opportunity to rethink where I wanted my career to go, the answer became clear. I completed my UX/UI design certification and intentionally moved into digital product design.

Today, I design products by connecting empathy with strategy and systems thinking. I enjoy untangling complex problems, asking the questions behind the obvious questions, and turning research and ambiguity into experiences that feel simple, useful, and considered. I care as much about the reasoning behind a product as I do about the interface people ultimately see.

Outside the screen, I’m still making, exploring, and experimenting. You’ll find me traveling, camping, working with pottery or resin, dancing to good music, starting a DIY project, or obsessing over the little details of a trip or gathering with friends.

Creativity has never been something I switch on for work. It’s simply how I move through the world.

A little detail behind the mark

My name, Marjan, carries meanings that have always felt connected to me—coral in Persian and pearl in Arabic. My last name, Mahloo, also carries an association with the moon. I brought those ideas together in my personal mark: a minimal expression of coral, pearl, and moon that represents both my identity and my creative approach.